Fort Worth daily gazette. (Fort Worth, Tex.) 1882-1891, 1887-04-24
CONVERSATION As A STUDY.
Kate sanborn in Journal of Education.

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placently send her out into the critical,
censorious world with limited vocab-
ulary, little knowledge of the subtle
meaning, the ms and outs, the lights
and shades of her own language, scanty
information on current topics, less power
to communicate what she had read, and
q few silly stock phrases, which
l wish could be oblitersted. The
best scholars seem to be awkward,
shy and silent, unless drawn out
upon their fav0rite >tudy; the more friv-
OloUs and superficial chatter, indulge in
superlatives and giggle. Is this too Sc
we're? 4 wise CID bachelor, VINO has hid
uncommon social opportunities and
who is always Criticising his women
friends ia way st once Gym
zeal and helpful, said to me the other
day: "Why don't you start g converse
ton class? 1t is an art that is strangely
neglected. At least you Csn write about
this, and try to wake women to the fact
tnat they DO not converse. They seem
to merely open their pretty wouths and
let the words tumble out without any
plan of forethOught. l asked q young
lady who was attending one Of our best
boarding schools, what instruction was
given there in conversation, and she had
never heard OF such a thing being at
tempted So ne set me 10 think
ing aud writing. Professor Townsend
has gwen you series Of ad
mirable ESSAYS on conversation. / am
sure ne will not object TO me following
IN the same track with a few hOmeIy,
very-day, actual illustrations. Let me
speak first Of unmeaning and annoying
;nI oil nv
the slipshOd talker.
Some Of my friends, after making a
statement that is self-evident, and that
instantly, will lead me along as if non
compos with a tiresome, "D'ye see!"
"See?'' "See?" usually accompanied
with mOnotonous gesture or wave of
the hand for added resistance ard ex-
PLANTATION, as if the rather simple SEN
tence was an abstruse geometric problem,
which l must approach by gentle degrees
and with deal of boosting.
once visited an otherwise agreeable
couple, where the wife would respond to
all | said, "To be sure" "to be sure"
and the husband used this Odious "see?"
constantly, until I.was forced TO give up
the intimacy. They were good friends,
but uncomfortable from this habit.
"Doncher know?" and call that sort of
thing" are far too common. Others use
"yOu know" to punCtuate their remarks,
when do not know; or "as you say"
when | have not said anything of the
sort
Listen to the superlaFives that pour out
from the lips of the average young lady
or married woman.
First aud last let me auathcmatize
"perfectly lovely" Bah! that is truly
nauseatiDg. | venture to affirm that
that much-abused phrase is used at
least ten times daily, by every school
girl, every college girl, every young
lady in this country. 1t is the stock
phrase at Smith, Wellesley and Vassar;
in fact conversation would drOOp and
languish without it. a young lady comes
in to see me, and she begins: so, Miss
Sauborn, how perfectly lovely your
rooms are! and isn't it lovely to live Ill
a fat! and you have an eleVator-how
lovely! It's Just horrid to climb three
fl ghts as l had to yesterday, although
| the bride 1 called on was so lovely L
didn't mind, you know. Her rooms were
fitted up so lovely with her wedding pres
ents, don't you see, and she shad
on perfectly elegant reception
dress-iust too lovely for anything,
doncher know? l can't describe
it, but it had lots CT Jet on satin, and
twas Just lovely. Her hair, you know, is
Just that exquisite, lovely chestnut shade,
with ripple of gold, doncher know, and
all that sort of thing. You don't
know how 1 enjoyed your reception
| last week, the music was 80 SPLEEN
did! And that pretty woman who
| Whlstled, wasn't she bewitching! Just too
lovely for anything. And the menl you
| do get such nice men-goOd looking and
such swells! Oh, ma and said when We
got home that it was perfectly lovely"
have heard that phrase applied to a
young pig, to e sausage. to an opera, to
q corpse!
would like to start q society for its
suppression and extinction. If hue OF
| ! penny had to be paid every time it was
used, we could raise $l,00Q,000
monument to General Grant, send $4,000
| young women to Montana, put all the
| sewing women and superiuous women in
e4sy circumstances, ard send out another
arctic expedition. Others compel
you to answer their decidedly
stale remarks, their truisms, their
platitudes, by constantly appending a
'rDon't you think sso?" "Don't you
agree with me?" For instance: 81
don't beIievelin divorce where there are
children, for mother is always mother
and father is father still-dOn't you
think so?"
l am also distressed by the federation
of, "Is that SOP" when l am endeaVOring
to interest friend in some news. Oh
course it's $780," or ms veracity is called
| in question.
1t is distressing to hear certain phrases
used as s substitute for wit, as this,
which is extremely popular: "MY trunk
went over the wrong ferry" said an IN
accomplished and travelled college gradu-
ATE to me the other day, land so had
to trot down to Barclay street to look
it upI" l looked at the tall,
graceful, intellectual girl, and wondered
how she could think it added to the hu-
NOR or interest of ner narrative to say
she trotted, when in reality she took the
elevated train and rode there. Or,
I hear girls say, 81 pranced
about, and let him know l was vexed."
Do they desire to be thought
coltish? And agai3, notice suchan odd
phrase, 81 went tC, work and told him al
I had heard about his last mash. He was
all broke up, and yesterday he went ts
work and wrote me just the lovelies'
note, just killing, and explained It all; Sc
/ thought 1 mast just trot down 20 tel
sou about it,"
Just one more word thata%shoul6 b.
tabooed. 1t IS "Well'F Let each on
who reads this count how many times h
or she begins a sentence with it il on
day l watched distinguished profe $50
of literature conducting 3 Shakespesr
class, and counted over thirty "W ellis,
with nearly as many infections, dutin
the first Aalf-hour.
GiggIDg is not conversation. Man
seem to labor under that delusien,
comptimented, they giggle; If embal